A testimony from Harmony of Creating My Kaleidoscope:
We’ve been trying to get out of debt for a long time. Every year our tax return went towards the credit cards, giving us a false sense of achievement… and it would never take long for the balances to climb back up again.
We were finally able to make real progress on our debt over the past couple of years thanks to a lot of hard work and a genuine change in our attitude towards money.
2017 was the first year we were able to use our tax return towards an investment, instead of just paying back money already spent, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We had been planning to have one more child to add to our set of three. Neither one of our vehicles would carry the whole family after the newest addition, so we decided to use our tax return towards purchasing a used minivan.
It felt incredibly empowering that we were going to be able to buy another vehicle without needing any financing. Then, we got the surprise of a lifetime. Our final, fourth baby, was going to be number four and five!
We were shocked to find out that twins were on their way. The standard minivan no longer seemed like a practical choice and three-row vehicles were too expensive for us to buy, at least with cash.
We were at a loss, searching through listings on Craigslist every night and very close to conceding that we would have to resort to a car loan. That was, until we starting thinking outside of the box and came up with an idea: our new family vehicle could be a used school bus!
We had just happened to see a used school bus for sale and ended up learning about a whole community of people who transform them into campers and RV’s. If they could do that with an old bus, why couldn’t we use one to cart our big family around town? We would be able to fit the whole family, plus friends, strollers, wagons, coolers, sports equipment, and all sorts of other things.
We started doing research on whether buying a short school bus would be a feasible option. The DMV informed us that we would not need a commercial driver’s license and told us about the registration requirements. Our insurance company gave us some reasonable quotes. Mr. Smith spent a bunch of time on “Schoolie” forums and watching YouTube videos to learn about what to look for when choosing our bus.
We decided to look for a short bus with a 7.3 Liter diesel engine, because it should get better gas mileage and last longer. We looked in locations that don’t use salt in the winter. It also needed to have seat belts that would work with the car seats.
There are quite a few dealers who specialize in school buses across the United States. However, we found that most of their vehicles had at least 200,000 or 300,000 miles on them. We’re hopeful that our bus will last at least that long, but we wanted to start off with less miles on the engine. We ended up focusing on Craigslist postings across the eastern half of the United States. There are a surprising amount of buses for sale out there, but not so many that met all of our requirements.
Our time line was a bit troublesome. We had to wait until we had our tax refund, but we were unsure exactly when the twins would arrive. It became clear that some travel would be involved to get a bus that met all of our criteria, and there was no way that Mr. Smith was going to leave me home by myself with three young children and newborn twins. We found one bus in Virginia, but it sold before we had our tax refund. We were pretty worried that our plan wasn’t going to work.
Then, we found our bus down in Tennessee. We had many phone conversations with the seller (who happened to be a small used car lot) to get answers to all of our questions and obtain lots of pictures of the bus. We did some research on the seller, sent a cashier’s check as a deposit, and had it added to our insurance policy. Mr. Smith flew down to Tennessee with a second cashier’s check with him for the remainder of the price of the bus and drove it back home. The seller provided him with a temporary dealer’s plate, but we did learn that you can purchase temporary plates from the DMV for a pretty small charge.
We now have a 20-passenger school bus in our driveway, completely paid for in cash. It is a 2003 Ford E-450, with a Powerstroke Turbo 7.3 Liter diesel engine and 136,000 miles. The bus cost us a total of $4,500, plus airfare, and tolls and gas to drive it back up North.
The bus needs a little bit of work before it can be driven around town. We removed the stop sign and “School Bus” decals. The main issue right now is that it cannot be yellow and we need to remove two bench seats (weight requirement) before it can be registered at the DMV. Mr. Smith has been working hard cleaning and sanding down the bus, and then he’ll start painting it. We were quoted a price of approximately $1,500 to have someone paint it for us. Fortunately, Mr. Smith was able to borrow a compressor and paint gun from a friend, so we can do it ourselves.
Our family, friends, and the neighbors think we’re a little strange. The kids are really excited. I’m looking forward to lots of adventures in the bus . . . and extremely thankful that our fun won’t be ruined by having to worry about making any loan payments.
Harmony Smith is a working mom of five who is fighting to pay off debt so she can escape from her 9-5 job and spend more time with her family. Harmony blogs about saving money, increasing her income with side hustles, DIY projects, and other adventures at Creating My Kaleidoscope.
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Jessica Waters says
I am looking at almost the exact same bus.. exact same engine, and am curious what type of fuel economy you get? also, have you had any significant issues with getting used to the blind spot issue ive read is a problem with these short busses?
Kg says
Do you have air conditioning? We have 4 kids and are looking to purchase a vehicle for cash. Our current vehicle does not have a/c and it’s been a hot ride. A short bus would be great with a/c.
Juli says
I’m curious what kind of gas mileage a bus will get you? And are you keeping the minivan for times when just one parent is out on their own, or with just a few of the kids?
Harmony@CreatingMyKaleidoscope says
I think my husband said the gas mileage on his trip back was about 18-20 miles per gallon. We don’t have a minivan. I have a small SUV that will be for driving to and from work, shopping trips, or transporting only a couple of the kids. We really don’t go that many places as a whole family. This bus is really for family gatherings, birthday parties, visiting the zoo, trips, etc. We don’t expect to be driving it on a daily basis.
Jeanine says
I was wondering what your husband will drive to work. Is he a stay at home dad? Or maybe he works from home. Congratulations on your twins and on finding a creative solution for your family!
Bonnie says
I think this is absolutely awesome! Very smart! Thanks for sharing your story.
Jett says
Let me start by Congratulating you & your growing family.
Your family will be able to enjoy many adventures creating memories in your bus. 🙂
I love this idea! It seems to be incredibly versatile and a great project for the whole family to work on together! I have a friend that has 2 children and their family uses the bus for camping and have a little play area/reading nook set up for their kids. The father also uses it for his clothing company when his brand has an occasional pop-up shop.
I’m not sure how it would work as a primary vehicle but worst case you sell it.
I wanted to address a couple of the negative comments regarding it not being an investment. While I have always agreed that ‘cars are an expense, NOT an investment.’ I think that this is one situation that could be an exception, especially if you already make the required adjustments and paint it.
Linda Griese says
I think this was really neat! I don’t know if I would have thought of a bus but it’s a great idea, and I’m so glad it worked out!!
Kraesmom says
I guess I don’t understand why a minivan wouldn’t have worked. They have seating for 7 or 8. Older kids help younger ones buckle and the babies go in the second row. Plus the lift gate for easy loading of groceries and a door that locks while you are in the store. A bus just seems like overkill, plus the added work and expense of painting it. I’m not trying to criticize…I’m just baffled.
Sarah says
That’s exactly what I thought!
Beth says
A few reasons are 1) they can’t take anyone else in their car 2) one of the parents can’t sit in the back because none of the kids can sit in the front and 3) I don’t know how old the first three are but most of the time you can’t get three car/booster seats on one bench.
When my second was born I rode in the back with him because he was little and his head kept falling forward. I wouldn’t want to be unable to reach the babies that are in rear facing carseats. With a school bus she could walk down the aisle to help any of the kids.
Harmony@CreatingMyKaleidoscope says
That’s all correct Beth 🙂
We have all the kids still in carseats and a standard minivan wouldn’t fit all five of them. And that’s just while they are little! My husband is a big guy and these four boys are going to need more room when they get older.
Also, where would we put stollers, wagons, coolers, sports equipment, etc. What if we want go camping? This bus gives us tons of room to bring along people and stuff wherever we need to go.
Maryalene says
This is such an out-of-the-box idea! I don’t think I ever would have thought about converting a bus!
If/when you get the point of needing to replace it, I did want to chime in that you’d be surprised at how much space you get in a minivan. I have five kids ages 4-18 and have never had a problem fitting in sports equipment, camping gear and everything else. We drove for 12 hours from our vacation destination this year in our van. Three kids in the way back, two in the middle buckets and grandma and me up front. The kids in the way back were a bit tight but we took turns rotating then to the bucket seat that wasn’t’t being used by the 4 year old and that made everyone happy.
Not sure a bus would be for me, but I’m super impressed with your creativity! 🙂
Jessica says
Are you allowed to have that parked in your driveway? Does it fit? In my city, you could not park that in your driveway without blocking the sidewalk, which would get you a ticket! You also wouldn’t be able to park it on the street. Also, vehicles aren’t really an investment. They depreciate. While a vehicle is a convenience, I wouldn’t call it an investment because it won’t generate income for you and it won’t go up in value.
Tori says
Agreed. She must live in a smaller town. That would not fly in a Alexandria, VA. But, if that’s the cheapest way to get her kids around and the neighbors don’t care, good for her.
Bethany from CuteCapsuleLife says
I love that you did what worked for your family, regardless of what others may think. You’ll enjoy your bus/car/RV for many years!
Catherine says
Nice paying cash! Just curious- I would look at what percentage of taxes you are withholding each year? If you are getting back about $4500/year that is nearly $400 a month that you are waiting a year to get.